Nanogel Boosts IL-2 Immunotherapy in Tough Cancers 突破封鎖的免疫奈米凝膠

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is one of the earliest approved cancer immunotherapies, but its clinical use is limited because it breaks down quickly in the body and can cause serious side effects. We developed a tiny “nanogel” that delivers IL-2 directly to tumors together with a chemotherapy drug that triggers immunogenic cell death. This special drug causes cancer cells to release danger signals, which reprogram immune-suppressive cells and help activate cancer-killing T cells. In aggressive cancers like pancreatic and liver cancer—where dense scar-like tissue blocks immune attack—our nanogel worked even better when combined with losartan, a common blood pressure drug that reduces tumor fibrosis and improves immune cell access. Together, this strategy reshapes the tumor environment from immune-suppressive to immune-active, slows tumor growth, reduces metastasis, and shows strong potential for future cancer treatment.

我們開發了一種奈米凝膠（nanogel），把免疫療法藥物 IL-2 精準送到腫瘤內。IL-2 是最早被核准的癌症免疫治療之一，但它在體內很快被分解，還可能造成嚴重副作用。我們的奈米凝膠像一個「微型運送艙」，不只保護 IL-2，還同時攜帶一種能誘發免疫原性細胞死亡的化療藥物，讓癌細胞在死亡時釋放「危險訊號」，喚醒並重啟免疫系統。在像胰臟癌這類極具挑戰性的癌症中，腫瘤常被厚重的纖維化組織包圍，阻擋免疫細胞進入。我們進一步結合常見的降血壓藥 losartan，幫助鬆動腫瘤纖維屏障，讓免疫細胞更容易進入戰場。結果發現，這個策略能把原本「免疫冷」腫瘤，轉變成「免疫熱」腫瘤，活化殺癌 T 細胞、抑制腫瘤生長，甚至減少轉移。透過奈米科技、免疫學與腫瘤生物學的跨領域整合，重新思考我們如何對抗最困難的癌症。

A chemoimmunotherapy nanogel enables efficient delivery of interleukin-2 and induction of immunogenic cell death for effective cancer therapy. Advanced Functional Materials 34 (1), 2303033